Key West Wheels

A young woman in a red bikini flashed into view as I was composing a different shot. Oh well.


What made it worthwhile was the reaction of this evidently not gay resident of Key West. Apparently he misses the company of women.


To ride with electric hear and a little red flag and a helmet is another way to draw attention to oneself.


Or one can face the fury of traffic dressed more casually, and still survive.


I wanted a picture of the bench looking out over the Key West harbor. The idea of posing myself crossed my mind but happily this cyclist saved me the effort.


The flag could be a well worn rainbow or some other symbol that has managed to escape my notice. Flags originally were intended as rallying points for troops on the field of battle and were thus supposed to be easily identifiable. This one beats me.


Getting ready for a possibly busy day pedi-cabbing.


The idea that a bike rental company might serve it's customers by bicycle struck me as odd. Then I realized that the thought itself was stupid. Nuff sed.


I like this view down Solares Hill.


The hill itself may only be, variously, fourteen or sixteen feet above sea level, but in a town built at sea level that gives the street a perspective not often seen around here.


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Seagulls Waiting

Another day getting underway in the Southernmost City, on the beach.


I have no idea what he seagulls were waiting for, but there they were, on the beach...


...on the Higgs pier.


Perhaps they were waiting for the day to clear up. Which would be a long wait as clouds rain were predicted to dominate the weather yesterday, and they did wherever I went.


It was as though there were blue skies around, but out of reach.


Still waiting.


My former neighbor and the Citizen's former wine columnist buzzed by on his way somewhere else.


Which reminded me I had places to go and things to photograph. So I too blew the scene.

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Deer In The Headlights

Riders Up North speak with fear and dread of deer in the roadway, and with good cause. Motorcyclists die all too often thanks to impetuous deer jumping into the roadway. It's worth remembering it can happen in the Keys too.





One tries to be aware not least because people enjoy cycling around here too, and being shitty to cyclists just isn't cool. Even if they aren't as smart as this one, and use the bicycle path.





Key deer are a small version of common-or-garden white tailed deer that have adapted to the environment of these small rocky islands. They seem to be doing well as they are swimming to neighboring islands and settling on them outside the refuge on Big Pine Key.





And they aren't always easy to see, please note.

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Bryce's Big Bang Theory

I am not a big fan of guns. That does not I hope, make me a sensitive new age guy. All due honor to Christine Lavin.



But when I passed the field cannon in of the FW post on North Roosevelt for the nth time I decided this was the evening at last that I would take the picture.



So I did. Let me be honest, this picture was inspired by the ADVrider website which has a picture thread dedicated to motorcycles and weapons of war.



I like to put Key West on the Web whenever I can. I love my home town; what can I say?


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Roadblock

The red and blue lights were visible from a long way away, as they are supposed to. At first I figured it was just a traffic stop, then as I saw traffic slowing and backing up I thought perhaps it was a wreck. The Monroe County Sheriff's Deputy was busy doing traffic control which supported my theory of an accident.


Accidents on Highway One are a pain for everyone on the road, especially if they involve death or a serious injury. The road can be closed for hours and it's one of those facts of life that cannot be allowed to ruin your day if you live in the Keys. But this was what? Not a wreck, for sure.


I have no idea what they were pumping out of the middle of the causeway. It wasn't sewage as we shit into septic tanks which leach through limestone (no, really!) into the ocean and kill off the coral. I'm not fibbing, and now they want to charge us seven thousand bucks per lot to create a sensible sewer system as we sink into the Great Depression of the 21st century. Timing is everything!

Anyway whatever they were pumping out of the middle of the road it wasn't sewage. Perhaps there was a problem with the main water line. We will probably never know...


It was the northbound traffic's day to take it on the chin. We were through almost without stopping but those headed toward Big Pine got stuck in quite a line.


And that is the worst of riding a bike. Getting stuck in a traffic jam is a pain, no air conditioning no comfortable seat to sprawl in and wait! Stuck in a line of cars. It sucks to be them.


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Rainy Sunny Day

My wife had long since gone to work, I was drinking my tea and wondering how long I could delay moving myself and taking Cheyenne for her morning walk. Nature intervened and a massive sudden downpour hit the house with a gust of wind and no other warning.


Cheyenne dropped back and laid down in sight of the sliding door, watching the rain spatter the porch. I knew that if we got in the car we could find sunshine either west toward Summerland or east toward Big Pine but if Cheyenne was content to wait out the rain I figured I could too.


It passed soon enough leaving puddles and shiny wet foliage.


The sun was magnificent, abetted by a cooling southeast breeze it felt like the world was reborn.


I couldn't help but notice how the sun on the water and the sun on the wet asphalt had a similar silvery effect...


I don't think Cheyenne cared one way or another, as she was ready to dive into the mangroves to find what she could find.


My Labrador gets very busy following her nose, coming and going while ignoring me altogether.


I amused myself looking around finding debris abandoned years ago in the woods. How a truck axle found it's way here and got left behind...


I got the South Pacific vibe looking at this wooden house framed by bendy palms. The occupant was not at all happy to see my dog and I appearing on the little used trail.


I have her a cheery good morning which she could not ignore before disappearing into her hermit's hut. A good woman no doubt, as indifferent to strangers as am I.


Cheyenne stayed busy.


I simply


Stood and took


Random pictures


For my pleasure.


I was enjoying the puffy summer clouds, the strange holes in the oolite rocks; it was a pleasant stroll after the summer rains.


It was a great break in a busy day, a day filled with housework and chores and things that needed to get done, on my single night off work this week.


I used to hate the rains when the presaged the cold short days of winter. But when they mark the long hot days of summer I know I will miss them starting in six weeks when winter kicks in, snowbirds descend and the Keys get busy.


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